Senate confirms Jack Lew as treasury secretary with little fanfare

The Senate easily confirmed Jack Lew as treasury secretary, just one day after his nomination was approved in committee.

President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff is now set to take office as Washington braces for $85 billion in automatic budget cuts to take effect Friday, and ahead of a government shutdown fight in the coming month.

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Lew's remarks after nomination

The speedy and bipartisan 71-26 vote was a stark contrast to the long, contentious confirmation of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Twenty Senate Republicans supported Lew’s nomination. Of the no votes, 25 were Republicans; the only other senator opposing Lew was Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“I intend to vote in favor of Mr. Lew’s nomination and obviously my vote in favor of Mr. Lew comes with no small amount of reservation,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, the top GOP member on the Senate Finance Committee.

He expects Lew to make it worth the trouble.

“I expect him to be responsive to the Senate Finance Committee. Mr. Lew has promised to be responsive to members of Congress in their requests for information,” Hatch said. “He has also promised to work in a bipartisan manner to address the many problems facing our nation. My hope is that he does not view these promises as merely boxes checked off on the way to confirmation.”

Lew made his reputation as a master of the government budget process, but will now have a far broader portfolio that touches Wall Street, the financial regulatory apparatus and international talks over currency and commerce. Lew will preside over the Financial Stability Oversight Council created by the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul.

"As my chief of staff, Jack was by my side as we confronted our nation’s toughest challenges," Obama said in a statement after the vote. "His reputation as a master of fiscal issues who can work with leaders on both sides of the aisle has already helped him succeed in some of the toughest jobs in Washington."

Obama said he would "continue to rely on his advice and sound judgment as we work to create good, middle-class jobs, provide more people with the skills those jobs require and ensure every hardworking American can earn a decent living."

Hatch and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus made clear throughout the confirmation process that they see Lew as a key player in their plan to rewrite the nation’s aging tax code. The pair reiterated the conventional wisdom that tax reform requires a strong executive hand — and they expect Lew to be the one to extend it.

“I hope that he and the president take note that I am bending over backwards to display deference to the president’s choice of Treasury secretary,” Hatch said on the Senate floor. “This gesture, I hope, will not be in vain.”

Not all Republicans were so quick to embrace Lew. He has been one of the top Democratic fiscal operatives behind budget strategies for Obama and President Bill Clinton as director of the Office of Management and Budget.

For many GOP senators his name is synonymous with partisanship and spending.

“Normally, and necessarily, the OMB director is a single office that drives efficiency and demands accountability on behalf of the president and the American people,” said Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions. “In that aspect of his job I have seen little leadership.”

Sessions led a group of GOP detractors who objected to the nomination but stopped short of trying to block the confirmation vote, as had happened with Hagel before the new Defense secretary was confirmed Tuesday.

Lew is expected to be sworn in as early as Thursday to succeed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who left his post at the end of January. Neal Wolin is currently acting Treasury secretary.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 6:23 p.m. on February 27, 2013.